A Quick Look Into Reform Efforts

LGBT adoption rights within individual states are theoretically ensured by the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. It should be noted that while gay adoption reform is usually understood to refer to attempts to modify existing statutes on gay and lesbian adoption to be more permissive of the namesake populations, as with the same-sex marriage debate, the gay adoption debate has also yielded calls for reform that would make adoption more restrictive for gays and lesbians.

Some legislators and concerned citizens have campaigned for change on a Federal level that would bar same-sex couples from adopting children, though these have gone largely for naught.

Where reform of gay and lesbian adoption has seen the biggest progress, though, is at the State level and in the public sector. Addressing the portion of the gay adoption debate relating to "gay parents vs. no parents", many foster care agencies now provide for LGBT couples to adopt when once they condemned such things.

NEXT: Fast Guide to LGBT Adoption Laws